SOME of the most isolated students in the Northern Territory welcomed cowboys and a rodeo queen into their classroom during a special Katherine School of the Air assembly on August 14.
As part of the Australian Professional Rodeo Association-affiliated Katherine Clean ‘Em Up Rodeo on Saturday night, four cowboys – including top bull rider Fraser Babbington – and Miss Rodeo Australia Danica Boland converged on the school to explain what the sport was all about.
More than 100 students spread across 800,000 square kilometres were captivated as Babbington outlined how he had switched to bull riding after representing his native New Zealand in showjumping at 15.
Babbington’s first rodeo was in Katherine and he told the students he had a strong connection to the town “where it all started”.
“That’s where I fell in love with the sport,” he said.
“I dream about it.”
One of the highlights of the visit was when cowboy Kolt Ferguson strutted his stuff in front of the camera and showed the students his roping trick expertise.